my tales of travels and adventures while exploring the beauty that is the Philippines...

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Unearthing the Sweetness of Guimaras (Part 1 of 2)

Not too many people know Guimaras. It's an island nestled between Bacolod and Iloilo and has once gained popularity due to the issue of oil spill when a boat sank within the vicinity. But what many people do not know is that Guimaras is known to be the "Mango Capital of the World." They are home to the sweetest mangoes I've ever tasted, and their festival is named after it's harvest that happens every April called "Manggahan Festival".

sweet, sweet mangoes!

Guimaras hospitality

fruit stand full of mangoes!

attack!

It only takes 15 minutes and PhP13 from Iloilo Pier to get to Jordan Wharf, the entry point to the island. They have a tourism desk right at the pier that regulates all transportation for the tour and going to your hotel. They will also give you a map indicating what are the tourist spots in the island.

From the pier, we hired a multi-cab to tour us around the island and
take us to our resort at PhP1,000. The first stop was the Pasalubong Center.

Guimaras Capitol

souvenirs from Pasalubong Center

nicely decorated kiosk

seaweed pickle...doesn't sound appealing to me :)

And then we went to The Trappist Monastery

map

facade of the church

their gift shop

After which we went to Guisi Lighthouse...

the ruins

Guisi Beach

entrance to the ruins

old light house

view of the sea from the light house

long stretch of white powdery beach

We decided to skip the other spots as we were too tired already. We went to Raymen's Beach Resort without any reservation. To our dismay, the only available room they have is on the 3rd floor, access of which is a spiral staircase. This won't work for us. They have another one, a beach front room, for PhP2,200. We were supposed to take it, but we didn't like the feel of the resort. It looks so crowded with it's hotel-like building, not to mention their staff was rude and impolite.

We decided to check out the resort beside it, Alobijod Cove. We were greeted by a nice attendant, who called the manager. The manager gave us the option to get the fan room, good for 6 for only PhP 1,500. The other one is a very nice newly built room, and very large with a/c and ref for Php 2,500. There were just 3 of us so it's a bit costly, especially that we are planning to stay for 2 nights. In the end, we decided to stay in Alobijod Cove because their customer service is superb, one I wouldn't mind paying extra. It turned out to be a good decision because the food was excellent and cheap, their service was above average and their staff are polite and always wear smiles.